BJ Shea

BJ Shea

BJ's BLOG 06/09/14 "Liberty vs. the Pursuit of Life"

by BJ Shea,posted Jun 9 2014 8:45AM

Today's blog comes from one of my mentors, Dan Sanders:

Life as we know it is being chiseled away slowly by greed and self-centered me-first attitudes. That illness has been a plague on the earth since man first invented fire (I assume it was a man), as we went from throwing rocks to flaming arrows to weapons that can set the entire world on fire. And yet a single virus could kill us all.

With the tragedies of children dying in our schools and people using guns to seek revenge on society, the sadness is truly overwhelming. The anger is building, and some feel to be armed is to be safe and the bigger the gun, the better.

That’s bull, of course. We saw how well that worked after World War I and World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and all the wars that have been fought in the last twenty years. Being armed has never stopped violence but only helps to propagate it.

Now we want armed guards in our schools, some say police, some say military. I remember as a very young boy seeing tanks roll through the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas, during the civil rights movement of the 1950’s. That image has haunted me for life. Do we want to ingrain such images into the minds of our young people? Imagine going to school and being watched over by an armed soldier or policeman. Young children might grow up to think they need a gun so they can kill you before you kill them.

Hunters don’t need an assault weapon unless they want to bring home chopped meat. If you want to hunt or must hunt, I suggest a bow and arrow. It worked for thousands of years for Native Americans. As a youth I learned to shoot a bow and arrow. I also learned to shoot a .22. Once rifles only fired a single shot with each squeeze of the trigger, but modern rifles are capable of firing many shots per trigger squeeze. I am still a good shot, and with practice I’m sure I could bring home an excellent meal without pulverizing it, and that would be my only reason for using a gun. If I could not “bring home the bacon,” I deserve to be hungry or learn to eat what the earth provides from the ground.

There are thousands of quotes on violence and nonviolence online, from such luminaries are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein, and they’re worth a search.

For more of what’s on my mind today, tune in to Rambling Harbor and give a listen.

your right many wars have caused chaos through "who has the bigger stick" mind set, But have you thought it through, gun control has nothing to do with the military! and wars lol Gun control is for us citizens at home! I got a question for you and i want you to think about it closely! I know many of us haven't ever had a crime committed against us or in our site, but think as if it is and im going to give you 2 questions that give you a scenario and then 1 for a result question. So heres the first, If you were walking down a street and you saw a female being raped! not knowing if the rapist had any weapon, but you had your .22 would help her out? and the 2nd question "If you were that female about to be raped, and you had your firearm in your purse, do you think you would have a higher percentage of getting away from the rapist? Ok so here is my last and final question to sum all of this up " When do police come? BEFORE or AFTER the crime has been COMMITTED? If you answered BEFORE you are wrong! Stats from Seattlepi.com say there average responce time is between 6.1 -7.2 minutes im sorry but any criminal can do what hes got to do in less than that!!!! But if im about to be raped, mugged, or murdered it only takes me 2-5 seconds!!!!!! for me to pull out my 40cal rueger. and tell them you picked the wrong guy!

06/09/2014 12:46PM

Responding to " according to the blog."

I have to start by admitting that my knowledge of guns is far from current. But the 40 Cal Rugger is a single shot per trigger pull hand gun. A long way from the multiple types of auto and semi-automatic weapons people seem to feel they need. You may have noticed I did not rule out a simple single shot weapon for hunting. In answer to your first question I’m a little crazy and would try and help her even without a weapon. In response to the female about to be raped I seriously doubt she would have time to get the gun from her purse and take the safety off which if she is smart would likely be on.
Regarding response time, In New York City the average response time for what the department identifies as critical calls -- reports of robberies, rapes, reports of gunfire, burglary and assault with a weapon -- is down 20 percent, to 4.8 minutes from 6 minutes during the previous fiscal year. Responses to less serious calls have also improved significantly. So maybe the real answer there is not to arm people but to hire more, better trained and well-armed and well paid police. If New York City can cut response time I suspect so can Seattle. And if as you say, and on many levels I agree “gun control has nothing to do with the military! And wars lol Gun control is for us citizens at home!” So if you and I both have our little nice and civil Ruggers, you and I may vet along just fine until the creep with the assault rifle moves in to the neighborhood and now our Rugger seems pretty useless.
In closing for now I want to thank you for responding to my blog. Without dialog there is never any progress.

06/09/2014 1:50PM

civilized weapons , me first society

The .40 is normally a semi-auto pistol firing as quickly as the slide returns with a chambered round. In theory if fires as quickly as you can squeeze within the mechanical constraints of the weapon. Also correct me if im wrong but was not the last time a full auto was used was in Colorado? Luckily he was a horrible shot. Most of the really effective rampages have been purpetrated with "civilized weapons" as you say. The open carry assault rifle "activists" are rediculous, but in all reality a 13 rd magazine in a semi-auto pistol has historically be much more effective. In closing no weapon is civilized they are designed to kill end of story. So lets stop focusing on the tool and pay attention the the me first socitey that you described. Until then you can count on the masses possesing a means of turning the tables from victim to agressor.

06/09/2014 2:04PM

To Above post

Obviously you and I see eye to eye on this. Not to be confused with with gun sight to gun sight.
Dan Sanders